Mini Docker

Mini Docker manages Docker containers, images, volumes, and networks from Noctalia. Its bar widget shows Docker availability and the number of running containers, while its panel provides common management actions.

Plugin

Field	Value
ID	8bury/mini-docker
Entries	Bar widget: mini-docker; panel: manager; service: docker-service

Requirements

Install the Docker docker CLI and make sure your user can connect to the Docker daemon. Test that docker info succeeds without unexpected prompts.

If respect_socket_activation is enabled on supported local systemd configurations, systemctl is used to probe the daemon state without waking systemd sockets.

Usage

Add the mini-docker widget to a bar. Left-click it to open the management panel and right-click it to refresh Docker state immediately.

Open the panel directly with:

noctalia msg panel-toggle 8bury/mini-docker:manager

The panel has four tabs:

• Containers: start, stop, restart, and remove containers.
• Images: run images with an optional name, network, published port, and environment variables; remove images that are not in use.
• Volumes: inspect and remove volumes.
• Networks: inspect and remove non-default networks.

Settings

Setting	Type	Default	Description
refresh_interval	int	5	Seconds between Docker state refreshes.
respect_socket_activation	bool	false	Only poll Docker when the daemon or service is actively running on supported local sockets.
default_network	string	bridge	Network initially selected when running an image.
show_count	bool	true	Shows the running-container count in the widget.
glyph_color	select	on_surface	Theme color used for the Docker glyph.
status_mode	select	always	Shows the status dot always, only while running, or never.
active_color	select	tertiary	Status color when a container is running.
inactive_color	select	error	Status color when no containers are running.

Notes

Mini Docker runs the local Docker CLI with your user's existing daemon access. Destructive actions require confirmation in the panel. It does not request elevated privileges, store Docker credentials, mount host paths, or expose ports unless you explicitly configure a port while running an image.

When respect_socket_activation is enabled, Mini Docker resolves the effective Docker endpoint (respecting DOCKER_HOST, DOCKER_CONTEXT, and context endpoints):

• Local system sockets (/var/run/docker.sock, /run/docker.sock): probed via systemctl is-active docker.service.
• Local rootless sockets ($XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/docker.sock, /run/user/<uid>/docker.sock, ~/.docker/run/docker.sock): probed via systemctl --user is-active docker.service.
• Remote endpoints (tcp://, http://, https://, ssh://): polling is preserved as usual. This setting does not manage or prevent remote socket activation.
• If no supported probe can detect the local daemon (for example, when systemctl is unavailable or on an unsupported custom socket path), enabling this setting reports Docker as unavailable without issuing queries that would trigger socket activation.